
News Brief: As Trump Crushes Academia, the NYT and Atlantic Still Fight 'Woke' Wars from 5 Years Ago
From Citations Needed by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson
February 18, 2026 · 46 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the impact of Trump's policies on higher education and the ongoing media battles over 'woke' culture.
In this News Brief, we are joined by Chenjerai Kumanyika and Todd Wolfson of the American Association of University Professors to discuss Trump's gutting of higher education, its expansion on previous neoliberal privatization efforts, and how big donor and media backlash against "woke "academics and anti-Gaza genocide protestors is fueling the possible end of academic independence as we know it.
People in this episode
Hosts: Nima Shirazi, Adam Johnson
Guests: Chenjerai Kumanyika, Todd Wolfson
Topics covered
- higher education
- neoliberalism
- academic independence
- media backlash
- woke culture
Keywords
- Trump
- higher education
- neoliberalism
- academic independence
- media backlash
- woke
- anti-Gaza protestors
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: American Association of University Professors, NYT, Atlantic
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